Cloning and expression of the NS1 protein of dengue virus in a prokaryotic system

Background Dengue virus nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) is a highly conserved glycoprotein involved in the production of infectious virus and the pathogenesis of dengue disease [1]. Serum or plasma DENV NS1 level has been found to correlate with viremia titer and disease severity. It can be found in the peripheral blood circulation for up to 9 days from illness onset, but can persist for up to 18 days from illness onset in some cases. Thus NS1 detection offers a larger window of opportunity for diagnosis of dengue compared with virus isolation, RT-PCR or NASBA [2]. In this context, the aim of this work has been the establishment of conditions for expression and purification of the recombinant protein NS1 of dengue virus serotype 2 produced in E. coli for further development of a serological diagnostic method at low cost.